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"Arpad, I should have told you before what the consequences of cheating are. You can go back now!" Lynn threw the parchment back and said coldly.
"Dean, please, give me another chance..." Arpad pleaded in panic. He was already 29 years old this year. According to the practice of Yieta, once a person is over 30 years old and has not become a formal wizard, he will be judged as having no potential and will be expelled from the academy.
Lin En was unwavering. Since he had chosen to take a shortcut, he had to take risks. If he didn't punish them, wouldn't that be unfair to those who worked hard to learn...
So no matter how Arpad cried and begged, Lynn just waved his hand and asked Orlando to take him away so as not to disturb the other students' exams.
Despite this lesson, there are still many students who attempt to cheat in this exam. Everyone is hoping for the best and believes that they will not be caught.
As for the cheating methods, they can be described as varied. The dumber ones are to write directly on the hands or sleeves, and secretly take a few glances at them when they are not paying attention.
There are also smart ones. For example, one apprentice has mastered a magical skill that allows him to peek at other people's answers through the reflection of light without anyone noticing. If Lin En had not already broken through to the level of a great wizard, he would have almost been fooled by the other party.
There were also methods such as using farsightedness to peek. Fortunately, Lin En was a veteran. Although he had no magic in his previous life, various high-tech cheating methods were no worse than magic. So in just a few minutes, he caught these people one by one.
There was a sudden cry of grief in the examination room. Among the 230 apprentices who took the exam, 37 of them tried to cheat in various ways. They were all kicked out of the examination room and their scores were directly invalidated.
Alok watched as one apprentice after another was disqualified from the exam and walked past him with a gloomy look on their faces. Some of them even faced severe punishment. He couldn't help but swallow his saliva. In fact, he had also prepared cheat sheets, but he had been struggling to find the courage to take them out.
After all, the dean had caused him a great psychological trauma before, but he didn't expect that he had successfully escaped the disaster. While secretly rejoicing in his happiness, he had no choice but to rack his brains to continue doing the questions.
Even if the written test score is a little lower, there is still a practical test afterwards. As long as you perform well, it should be no problem to get a good score.
Lydia, who was in the examination room, had the exact opposite thoughts from Alok.
As a halfling with no magical talent, she was able to take the exam entirely with Lin En's special approval, but the dean would not give her a back door.
This meant that he was destined not to get any marks in the plastic arts subject of the practical class, and could only make a little effort in alchemy and herbology, but it would probably be difficult for him to even pass.
In order to pass the exam successfully, you must be extremely good at the written test subjects...
Lydia also worked extremely hard. As the maker and pilot of the airship, she was very familiar with the area and volume calculations of geometric figures, as well as several formulas for free fall, so she finished the basic questions in just one and a half hours.
But when I was doing the last dozen or so questions, I was stumped. These questions either involved the movement of celestial bodies or were related to functions. Even the simplest ones involved extremely complex geometric calculations, which made my head hurt just thinking about them.
For example, one of the questions...
[A, B, and C are our three artillery positions. A is six kilometers east of B, and C is 30 degrees west of B, five kilometers apart. P is the enemy's priest group position. At a certain moment, a bishop used the communication magic and was discovered by our side. Since B and C are farther away from P than A, the traces of the communication magic were not discovered until three seconds later. It is known that the transmission speed of the communication magic is one kilometer per second. Find the azimuth angle of A's artillery attack on the priest group position...]
It’s so difficult…
Lydia had a bitter face and was writing and drawing on the manuscript paper. She wished she could stuff the entire test paper into the dean's mouth. Couldn't he give them some simple questions?
Chapter 306: This is even more outrageous than the sun falling from the sky!
The exam, which lasted for a whole morning and three hours, finally came to an end. The moment Alok and the others walked out of the door, they all breathed a sigh of relief. Then, they nervously and anxiously compared answers with each other, and soon they were arguing with each other.
"Impossible! I have verified it several times. The wizard who encountered the plane crash should reach the ground in the 31st second." Alok said confidently.
"Then you must have calculated it wrong. The formula for this problem should be distance S = initial velocity V * time t + 1/2a t^2. You need to set the free fall time to t1 first... and finally the total fall time is twenty-four seconds, and the free fall distance is eighty meters!" A wizard refuted.
Alok checked the calculation in his mind and his face suddenly turned very ugly.
That’s it. So he got another question wrong.
Peirce on the side breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he had urgently reviewed several formulas of free fall last night, otherwise he would have been doomed today.
……
Inside the examination room, Lin En was looking at the collected answer sheets, which were being graded by Orlando and others.
Although they may not be able to do it themselves, they can still have no problem with the answers.
"Dean Lin, it looks like not many people will be able to pass the exam this time..." Orlando couldn't help but shook his head after flipping through more than a dozen test papers. This was similar to what he had estimated. Judging from the proportion, only 30% of the people would be able to pass the written exam.
Is it that difficult? Lin En was also a little surprised. The brains of wizard apprentices should be very useful. Even if they are not all geniuses, they must be better than normal people.
But after thinking about it carefully, Lynn quickly realized the problem.
Even though the questions he asked were not difficult this time, these wizard apprentices had not studied for a long time, just over a year in total, but they needed to master a lot of things - he taught all the physics, chemistry knowledge in elementary and junior high school, and even some high school knowledge points.
In addition, they often skipped classes to deal with personal matters or to participate in academic seminars and kingdom wars, which meant that they had to spend a lot of time studying on their own.
It seems that this exam paper seems... seems... to be a little more difficult?
Lin En touched his chin, and after seeing several high-scoring test papers, he immediately rejected this idea.
Since some people were able to get high scores, it means that the test questions he set were not very difficult...
Among them, the one who performed the best was undoubtedly Johnny. Except for three wrong answers to the last five difficult questions that he had deliberately prepared, he got almost all the others right!
In addition to being a formal wizard with stronger computing power than an apprentice, it is obvious that he also works hard in his daily life.
What surprised Lin En the most was Lydia. She actually scored 88 points on the test paper, and all the mistakes she made were related to the properties of elements. She even solved several difficult questions that he had specially prepared.
"She is indeed a genius in engineering!" Lin En said with emotion.
"Dean, you shouldn't have let Lydia take this test. What if she really passed it? You are not going to give a wizard medal to a halfling who can't do magic, are you?" Orlando said hesitantly.
"Of course, as long as she can pass the exam, becoming a wizard is no big deal." Lynn said calmly.
"But if this happens, Lydia might become a laughing stock among wizards, and even be targeted by some people who think she has insulted the noble identity of a wizard..." Orlando looked worried. He felt that the dean's thinking was too simple. What's the use of a title for a wizard who can't do magic?
"Even if she can't cast magic, Lydia can still be an alchemist, right? She built an airship on her own, and she also contributed a lot to the research of internal combustion engines and electromagnetic railguns." Lin En reminded.
Orlando choked for a moment. From this point of view, there was nothing wrong with calling this half-orc girl an alchemist.
But for a wizard who can't do magic, it's strange no matter how he thinks.
While he was struggling, Lin En continued with a smile, "And who said that Lydia couldn't use magic?"
Orlando looked confused. It was common knowledge in the wizarding land that halflings had no magical talent, and no one had ever broken it before.
Lydia has been an apprentice for more than a year, but she can't even master the most basic [Water Condensation Technique] and [Material Deconstruction Technique].
Could it be possible that the dean could help an untalented person successfully master magic and become a wizard? !
This is even more outrageous than the sun falling from the sky!
Lynn kept it a secret and didn't explain, but just told Orlando that he would know in a few days.
……
In the afternoon, the apprentices who had suffered a lot in the written test finally had the practical class they were familiar with.
There are five subjects in total: elements, shaping, alchemy, potions, and practical exercises, which are divided into two days...
Over the past year or so, although Yieta's wizard students have had a lot more arduous courses, many things are interconnected.
For example, the chemistry subject involves the properties and changes of elements, so they did not fall behind in these basic courses. The training of computing power through Mathematical Olympiad also brought their magic reserves close to the limit, so the number of students applying for graduation this time is much higher than in previous years.
Knowing that his grades on the morning's written exam would not be very good, Peirce worked extra hard and performed exceptionally well, passing the first four subjects with excellent grades.
As for the final actual combat exercise, it was the easiest one. Their opponents were three magical puppets whose combat power was equivalent to that of fully armed guards, so it naturally did not take much effort to deal with them.
Even Lydia managed to kill these puppets one by one using her carefully crafted musket.
On the morning of the third day, it was time to announce the results. All the students in the magic academy gathered together, waiting in agony and anxiety.
When I received the transcript and saw that I had successfully passed the assessment, I was delighted, but there were obviously more people who had failed.
Even taking the average score, less than 40% of people passed the graduation exam.
"Damn, I was just that close!" Debra looked at the conspicuous "58 points" on the test paper and felt extremely upset. If she had reviewed a few more times, or if the professor had been a little more lenient, she would have passed the exam.
Now I have to wait another year... Debra reflected on this to herself, and at the same time, a burst of warm cheers rang out beside her.
"Great...I passed!"
Chapter 307: If even you can learn magic, then everyone can become a wizard, right?
Lydia held her test paper with great joy and shouted excitedly. She didn't expect that she actually passed the graduation exam successfully, and her score was not low!
Even though he got a zero in the shaping subject and his performance in elements and herbology was terrible, he managed to pass the practical test because he got high scores in practical combat and alchemy.
Combined with the excellent results achieved in the written examination, the average score was 74 points, which was already among the best among all the apprentices!
Of course, Darren and others were even more excited than Lydia. They followed Lydia into the college early in the morning just to wait for the moment when the results were announced.
"Great, Lydia, it looks like you're about to become the first halfling wizard!" "I knew you could do it!"
The halflings present spoke excitedly, saying that they had witnessed with their own eyes how Lydia had come to where she was today.
It is a consensus in the entire wizarding land that the Halflings have no talent for magic, but Lydia refuses to believe it and wants to join Iyeta Academy to study magic and become a real alchemist!
To others, this is undoubtedly a fantasy, and can even be described as stubborn and stupid. No matter how hard the camel pulling the cart on the ground tries, it cannot fly into the sky like a griffin. Magical talent is something that is innate, and it divides the gap between extraordinary people and ordinary people!
Even though she was never recognized, questioned, and ridiculed, Lydia never thought of giving up. She worked as an alchemist's assistant and made all kinds of flying machines, all for the chance to learn magic!
These efforts were undoubtedly failures, but fortunately she was lucky enough to be appreciated by Dean Lin En and participate in the production of the aerospace airship. She successfully reached an agreement with Master Helram and joined Yieta College.
Until now, when I passed the assessment, two years have passed in a blink of an eye.
This also means that the Halflings will finally have a real wizard!
"You are too happy too early. Passing this exam only means you are qualified to take the source of magic power. It does not mean you can become a formal wizard..."
Debra interrupted the excited Lydia and the others with a rather annoyed remark, and then continued with a sneer, "With your magical talent, even if you take the source of magic power, it would be a waste. There is no possibility of becoming a wizard at all."
Debra's sharp words were like a bucket of cold water, extinguishing the enthusiasm of the halflings and making the originally enthusiastic atmosphere suddenly quiet down...
Alok and others on the side frowned, but could not say anything to refute. After all, no matter how unpleasant Debra's words were, they were true!
These apprentices who have passed the assessment still have one big hurdle to overcome - that is the final promotion ceremony!
According to past practice, only half of the people can successfully advance, and Lydia has not yet been able to learn even a basic zero-ring magic, so the possibility of her becoming a formal wizard is very slim.
Thinking of this, the students who failed the exam looked at Lydia with a hint of mockery in their eyes.
So what if I pass this assessment by luck?
Whether a person can become a wizard is decided from the moment he is born!
Even if they failed this year, there are still exams next year and the year after. At least they still have hope of being promoted to official wizards!
Seeing that Lydia was somewhat discouraged by Debra's words, Johnny said thoughtfully, "Since Dean Lin En didn't stop you from taking the graduation exam, maybe he will find a way to make you a wizard!"
She felt that the dean would not be so cruel as to give people hope and then destroy it.
Lydia's eyes suddenly brightened. If someone else had the ability to become a wizard, she would still be skeptical. But if it was Dean Lin En, it would be different!